‘Call the Midwife’ preview: First look at 2022’s Christmas special
The first pictures from this year’s festive episode of Call the Midwife are here!
BBC One’s long-running period drama series about a group of nurse midwives in the East End of London celebrated a decade on air earlier this year.
A twelfth season of Call the Midwife finished filming this month, ahead of its arrival next year.
Ahead of that, though, we’ve a feature-length Christmas special to look forward to.
A traditional treat every year since 2012 (even in 2020!), this year’s 75-minute episode sounds like another winner.
Written by Call the Midwife creator Heidi Thomas, the special reunites us with all our favourite characters shortly after the events of Season 11’s dramatic finale.
What happens?
Set in December 1967, Christmas is fast approaching, and life in Poplar is getting back to normal after the terrible train crash.
Matthew (Olly Rix) is overjoyed when Trixie (Helen George) returns from Portofino, looking poised and beautiful.
The midwives are moving the maternity clinic into new premises, and are delighted when one of their first patients through the door is a heavily pregnant Rhoda Mullocks.
With guest star Liz White (Life on Mars) reprising her role, Rhoda is understandably nervous, after her last baby was born with limbs affected by Thalidomide.
Meanwhile, Nurse Crane (Linda Bassett) is busy caring for a heavily pregnant single mother who has recently been let out of prison.
And Sister Frances (Ella Bruccoleri) finds herself called out to a rough area of Poplar to deliver a Sylheti mother’s child in a factory.
Luckily, Fred (Cliff Parisi) is on hand to provide some festive cheer.
He decides that Poplar needs to come together to raise money for those families still affected by the train crash, and suggests everyone puts on festive talent show, with the wonderful name of… Poplartunity Knocks!
When is the release date?
The Call the Midwife special will air in the UK at 7.55pm on Sunday 25th December on BBC One.
In the US, PBS will also be showing the episode on Christmas Day, as they did last year, at 9pm on Sunday 25th December.
Season 12 will then premiere on BBC One and PBS in early 2023.
As part of the show’s 10th anniversary celebrations, an official Call the Midwife podcast recently launched!
The 28-episode podcast investigates “why Call the Midwife is held so dear by BBC audiences and uncovers the drama’s capacity to reflect, influence, and spark conversations around medical history and social change.”
Fans can also look back at the past decade of Call the Midwife with this brilliant behind-the-scenes book by Dr Turner actor Stephen McGann.
A Labour of Love: Ten Years of Call the Midwife is out now and you can order it here!
Call the Midwife is available on DVD on Amazon.